Yoga is very useful for that purpose and that is the purpose of asanas. Try to practise some pranayamas also ( breathing exercises) that will help you to calm down the mind when you meditate. The whole point of asanas is to prepare the body and mind for dhyana ( meditation)

I just started going Bikram Yoga. I've tried yoga in the past and didn't like it. However, this time I actually enjoyed it and I think I'm going to stick to it this time. I think now that I meditate daily I'm more into yoga.

i've done it. i really liked it but i did it at home which was confusing trying to mimic a tape with no instructor. i always felt sore the next day. also the ideas of a snake goddess shooting up my spine too mate with a male god in my head is kind of freaky...

however i love the more liberal ideas about simply opening up the chakras and unifying your energies with universal pure and good energy. it's a fun idea, and i spent a good amount of time studying them and their workings. although for me it always comes back to: did the buddha teach this? what would he say about it?

and that shatters the fun chakra ideas for me, he likely would have shut them down if his followers were practicing for these purposes. i imagine it going something like:

"what do you think [insert name], are these energies permanent or impermanent?"

"impermanent lord"

"and what are things that are impermanent?"

"suffering lord"

"therefore [insert name], you should let go of anything that is not permanent since it is not yours." and so on and so on.

however the purely physical aspects of it are GOLD and i really wish i had the time too go find and take a class to learn them. from what i hear, people who are good at yoga have very few back problems and are generally healthier than more stagnant people.

i practice qigong since i know it already and it's much less strenuous (which likely means it's not as wonderful at getting you stretched out and fixing aches and pains), there's only three energy vortexes! much easier too remember, and the exercises are super easy, which again probably means it doesn't work as well if i had too guess. however it seems qigong would be good for an older person or someone with joint problems who cannot be so flexible. i have the same problem with hearing the buddha's fictional sutta in my head about the energies but i just tell myself i'm simply using positive thinking for better health

someday i intend to get into yoga seriously as it's always interested me.

alan... wrote:however i love the more liberal ideas about simply opening up the chakras and unifying your energies with universal pure and good energy. it's a fun idea, and i spent a good amount of time studying them and their workings. although for me it always comes back to: did the buddha teach this? what would he say about it?

and that shatters the fun chakra ideas for me, he likely would have shut them down if his followers were practicing for these purposes. i imagine it going something like:

"what do you think [insert name], are these energies permanent or impermanent?"

"impermanent lord"

"and what are things that are impermanent?"

"suffering lord"

"therefore [insert name], you should let go of anything that is not permanent since it is not yours." and so on and so on.

Lol, you know the the Buddha script.

No offense, but I hate all that talk about chakras stuff...that's one of the things that turned me off about yoga. It just seems so flakey...again, no offense. If it floats your boat that's fine with me. Anyway, I tend to avoid teachers that are too into that kind of stuff.

I've been doing yoga lately at a studio, I'm not a very flexible person right now due to growing up sitting in chairs so I really need to work on opening up my hips if I decide to ordain after I finish my college education. A zafu is not one of the requisites of a bhikkhu. Currently I'm working towards being able to sit directly on the ground with an erect spine in the burmese posture, after that I'll start working towards half lotus, and once I can do that comfortably I'll work towards full lotus.

"I don't envision a single thing that, when developed & cultivated, leads to such great benefit as the mind. The mind, when developed & cultivated, leads to great benefit."

"I don't envision a single thing that, when undeveloped & uncultivated, brings about such suffering & stress as the mind. The mind, when undeveloped & uncultivated, brings about suffering & stress."

I have study a little bit about Yoga and Chakra etc. I think this is a form of Samatha practice. For me chakra is just the awareness of the energy moving through your body (spinal cord) hence I do not completely reject the idea. This is very similar to Tree of Life teaching in Kabbalah teaching. I think when a person practice Vipassana meditation he also experience something similar to Chakras. The way I understand is that you can experience Shasrara Chakra straight away when you do Vipassana meditation but we do not call it as such.Well no point of trying to drive a bullock cart when you have a Rolles-roys.

When I go on retreats with long hours of sitting, my back muscles start giving me problems around the 3rd or 4th day. Because of this, I started on Hatha Yoga to strenghten my back. I find it difficult as my core strength and flexibility has deteriorated somewhat. But I can see how it can be very useful for overall health which naturally will benefit meditation practice.